A MOVE THAT is best captured by Peter Canavan for his input to Tyrone’s win in the epic 2005 All-Ireland semi-final against Armagh.
And one that was utilised successfully on county senior hurling final day in Semple Stadium yesterday afternoon.
Seamus Hennessy is one of the most celebrated names in the Kilruane MacDonaghs line-up. He collected two All-Ireland medals in the space of a week in 2010 in Tipperary colours for senior and U21 victories, rifling over a point when sprung from the bench on the day that Kilkenny’s five-in-a-row ambitions were thwarted.
Over a decade on he is still featuring in his club’s ranks, in action as they contested a first Tipperary county senior final in 36 years.
Hennessy started yesterday but the board went up to withdraw him after 20 minutes.
All part of the plan to manage a player who saw his inter-county career curtailed by a serious knee injury and when re-introduced in the second half, he made his mark with a priceless injury-time intervention.
“Inside the white lines it takes on a life of its own, whatever I had planned for the last week, that can change,” said Kilruane MacDonaghs boss Liam O’Kelly.
“But that was a tactic. I wanted to start Seamus. A county final and who bigger to go to than to be a leader than Seamus. He did twenty minutes and had a good input, made the first score. I pulled him after twenty minutes and brought him back on for the last twenty and he won the free, Willie put the ball over the bar and it was history after that.”
Hennessy won the free but it needed to be converted to rescue Kilruane MacDonaghs. Willie Cleary proved as reliable at the finish as he had been all afternoon, while the goalscoring touch of Jerome Cahill was also crucial.
“Willie Cleary, what pressure he was under with that free!
“Testament to him, the boys tell me he throws darts every second night, he is a very good dart thrower. I have had huge confidence in him, he has been our go to man in those two years.
“I can’t say enough about Jerome Cahill. For me as a club player he is outstanding, he is our leader, our captain, our go-to man.
“Some of our players are devastated, and you can appreciate that, but I said to the lads, we came from behind and drew the match so we are happy to be where we are. We’ll come back and give it another shot.”
O’Kelly had no interest in dwelling on a second-half point awarded to Kiladangan, despite TV replays indicating the shot was wide.
“I don’t have a view on it, it is done, over with so we move on. I am not going to cry over spilt milk, I don’t operate that way. I respect Kiladangan, they are a quality side. It has no relevance to me, it doesn’t change the result.”
The focus is now on getting accustomed to replay preparation.
“It is unknown territory for me. There is no rulebook on how to deal with that. I commented on that before in relation to our good friend, we all wore black armbands today in recognition of Dillon Quirke with the number eleven on it.
“There was no rulebook in how to deal with Dillon Quirke and there is no rulebook for today but by God we’ll come back fighting next week.”
In the opposition camp Kiladangan boss Sean O’Meara was reflecting on being pegged back.
“You’d have mixed emotions about it. At one stage we looked as if we were in control. They brought it back and then they went ahead. In the end you’d be delighted just to get away with a draw and live to fight another day.
“I’ve been saying all week, it’s a local derby. Two teams fairly evenly matched. We drew with each other in the North Championship, so it just shows where we’re both at.”
O’Meara felt his team showed signs of anxiety in adjusting to the occasion.
“It’s funny, having been there in 2019 and 2020, I felt out lads were a small bit nervy today. What it’s from, I don’t know. There was a huge momentum behind Kilruane this week, whether that had an effect on them or what, I don’t know but we were a little bit nervy.
“We dropped a lot of ball, stuff that we would normally have a straight ball into the hand and gone, we fumbled it. Fair play, it’s down to Kilruane’s work rate as well. It’s not just that we were poor on the ball, it’s pure workrate from Kilruane and they deserve great credit for it.”
